Alisher Vakhidov, the head of the official delegation of Uzbekistan, stated that “tortures in Uzbekistan are used, but the government is fighting against this evil” while presenting the first official report of the government at the 23rd session of the UN Committee against Torture while on November 17-19, 1999.

Members of the Committee, supporting the good will of Uzbekistan in eradication of any form of violence against the human being, approved the report of the Uzbek delegation saying it was “sincere without attempts to hide anything”.

Islam Karimov, one of the most brutal dictators in the world, has been illegally ruling Uzbekistan for quarter a century, making the population slaves in the 21st century.

Karimov has transformed one of the most promising countries in the Central Asian region into the space of violence, lawlessness, corruption and hypocrisy, driving the country to a standstill, which can be overcome only through means of violence.

Shukurzhon Abdurakhmanova laments that all written complaints of her husband Solizhon Abdurakhmanov do not reach the higher instances. Solizhon Abdurakhmanov husband sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.

Shukurzhon Abdurakhmanova informed “Jarayon” by the phone that her husband had been released from the punishment cell. However, according to the lady, when she visited her husband in the prison, he refused to tell her why he was put in punishment cell.

Tashkent-based human rights activist Agzam Turgunov, who has been kept in detention for the past five years, woes that he cannot get an answer to his written complaints.

Recently, on October 30, in a telephone conversation with “Jarayon”, Bekhzod Turgunov, son of the rights defender Agzam Turgunov, told that the prison administration allowed his father to meet with relatives.

– On September 24-25, my older brother Murod went to the colony in Karshi to meet with our father. He was given a day long date. The health condition of our father is still very poor. He complained of severe pain in the legs. But despite this, he did not say much about his health. Basically, dad asked my brother to inform journalists that all the written appeal to the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, the Ombudsman, the Oliy Majlis, and the Ministry of Justice remain unanswered. My father is in prison for five years, but he still could not get a response from the higher authorities for his written complaints, – says Bekhzod Turgunov.

Letter to the Ambassador for Human Rights of France from wife of political prisoner Azam Farmonov.

Today, when the UN Committee against Torture discussed the issue of torture and human rights in Uzbekistan and called the representatives of the Uzbek government, led by Akmal Saidov, to answer all the questions, I read the information on the websites of the French Embassy in Uzbekistan (http://www.ambafrance-uz.org/ Vizit-Posla-Francii-po-pravam) and some pro-government media websites in Uzbekistan (http://www.12news.uz/news/) that ambassador for human rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, Ms Patrizianna Sparacino-Thiellay visited Tashkent on October 23-25.

Dear reader!

Web-site “Jarayon”continues to write about the situation of political prisoners in detention in Uzbekistan.

If you have important information about the fate of political prisoners, which you would like to present to the general public, we ask you to write about it to our e-mail address:jarayoniy@gmail.com

Sincerely,

“Jarayon”s editorial office

Relatives of Murod Juraev, former MP of Uzbekistan, one of the political prisoners serving the longest sentence in Uzbek prisons, have lost hope that he may be released by amnesty, the closest of which will be announced on the occasion of the Constitution Day of Uzbekistan.

Murod Juraev’s wife, Kholbeka Juraeva, who met with her husband beginning of this month in Chirchik city prison, says to “Jarayon” that day by day she is losing her hope for his early release.

– I’m not looking forward to it (amnesty of Murod Juraev – “Jarayon”). Last year they said “on December 8 anyone who is over 60 would be released.” Many neighbors said to me: “See, they have announced an amnesty to those, who are 60 years old and older. Murod aka is also 60 years old. If God wills, he will be here soon.” However, the fact that he was 60 years old did not help him at all, – says Kholbeka Juraeva .

With a new round of EU-Uzbekistan human rights talks approaching, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the International Human Rights Association (IHA) Fiery Hearts Club urge the EU to raise concerns about the unrelenting persecution of independent civil society actors as a matter of priority with its Uzbek counterparts.

The EU should challenge the Uzbek authorities to take meaningful steps to implement recommendations addressed to them on this topic during the recent UN Human Rights Council review of the country, said the two organizations.

Since the beginning of the cotton campaign in Uzbekistan some unscrupulous teachers began to divide students into two camps.

– In the beginning of this academic year, principals and teachers of some Uzbek schools began inviting schoolchildren’s parents for individual talks and tell them “the cotton campaign is starting soon, if you have the opportunity to leave your child at home, then let’s talk it over.” Thus, they demand a bribe from them. If the family can afford it, parents will be able to save their child this season from picking cotton and anguishes children face in the cotton fields. But if parents cannot afford it, then the child is included in the so-called list of “not being able to pay”, and instead of going to school, will have to spend time in cotton fields until tale fall, – says Davlatoy Murodova, resident of Andijan.

Tamara Sobirova, sister of Uzbek president’s wife, purchased a luxury apartment in the heart of Istanbul a reader writes to “Jarayon”.

Recently, head of the international human rights organization “Fiery Hearts Club”, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, received an email from one of the readers of “Jarayon”, which says that Tamara Sobirova, sister of Tatiana Akbarovna Karimova – the first lady of Uzbekistan, bought a multi-million dollar property abroad.